Uber’s open source data visualization tool now goes beyond maps

You may not be aware, but Uber offers an open source version of the data visualization framework it uses internally, called deck.gl. The tool was made available to anyone via open source license last November, and now it’s getting some key updates that should help make it more useful to external teams and individuals looking for interesting ways to take their data and turn it into compelling visual representations.

“The main idea behind this library is that it’s a WebGL-powered framework that is designed for exploring and visualizing data assets at scale,” explains Nicolas Garcia Belmonte, Uber’s head of data visualization, regarding why the tool exists to begin with. “There’s a lot of geospatial stuff that we do here, as well, as you can probably imagine from the core business, so we visualize a lot of data on maps.”

Uber has used the tool internally for various purposes, including visualizing the pick-up and drop-off experience, as a way to make material the insights it can gather from the considerable stock of data it gathers from its ride hailing business. Open sourcing the project, according to Belmonte, is a way to help others be able to quickly and easily visualize and explore their own data sets, including very large collections. Read full article